One Day
by no-1gal
Summary: Abby returns to Chicago after a four year departure finding a few surprises and bringing her own.
1. Chapter One

Title - One Day  
  
Author - no_1gal@hotmail.com  
  
Summary - When Abby returns after leaving for four years, she returns to find the ER holds a few surprises but then, she has her own surprises.  
  
Disclaimer - None of the characters belong to me and I'm making no money by writing this.  
  
Author's Notes - Thanks to all who read this. If anyone is up to being my beta then please contact me as I would like to improve in my writing. Thanx!  
  
Part One -  
  
John Carter stared at the envelope he held in his two hands. He knew who it was from. He also knew that it was unlikely to ever be read. Or opened. His life now was like a dream. He was married and they were talking about trying for children. They were the perfect family. He loved his wife and she loved him as well. He could say that he was finally happy.  
  
He placed the letter down on the kitchen counter. After taking a second more to watch it, he opened the small bin with his foot and through the envelope in.  
  
"John. John honey I'm home." Ah, his wife was home. He walked toward the kitchen door with a grin on his face. They had been married for just over a year and a half. He lived in a detached house in the centre of Chicago. He lived there with his family and had done for the past two years.  
  
"Hey, I'm in here," He answered her opening the door. She met him on the other side with just as big a grin plastered on her face. After sharing a quick hug he continued. "So how was your day?" She groaned.  
  
"Oh, about as good as that film we went to see last week." He laughed out load at that. It had been awful. Something to do with death. Soul Surfers. No, Soul Survivors. That was it. Load of crap.  
  
"What happened?" His voice was filled with love and concern. It wasn't easy to work at a hospital. Especially County General. Luckily, he had only had a half shift that day so he had arrived home at two.  
  
"We lost a patient. Committed suicide before anyone had even seen him. Hung himself." Tears filled her eyes as she spoke. John stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her. No one in the ER got on with his wife. Not even Susan or Kerry. Susan said that he shouldn't have married someone he didn't really love but what choice did he have. His life couldn't just stop because of her.  
  
Four years ago she had just up and left him. Okay, well they hadn't really been dating but near enough. Of course, she did have a very good reason but he could have helped her. They could have got through it together. As a couple. Instead, she had gone off to deal with it on her own, without telling anyone except Susan.  
  
Abby Lockhart had broken his heart. She had left him with nothing. He had got over her and he didn't look back. Her reason was that she had to get over what had happened. Susan and Pratt had both stayed, so why did she have to leave? He had known she maay be gone a while but he had always thought she would come back. Well, until two years ago. She has written to him every month for the past four years telling him what is happening in her life. Wishing him well and hoping he is doing okay. Never once has he answered. She doesn't know anything about his knew wife, Louise. Susan said she would keep in contact with Abby but he and Susan had become distanced from each other ever since his marriage.  
  
Two years ago, Abby had written to him telling of how she didn't think she would be back. She had wanted him to move to England. She had wanted him to move for her. To be with her and her two children. She had a boy and a girl. Twins. She wanted him to look after another mans children. Never. If Abby was happy in England then that was fine with him. He was happy in Chicago. They could be happy apart.  
  
The event that had caused this had happened so long ago but it was still so fresh in his mind. It had happened one month after the Lockdown. Abby and he had spent the night together. They had never spoken about it. Every time he got round to seeing her, she had made an excuse and quickly left. One of those times had led to the most horrific day in the ER history. The day they had lost two close friends.  
  
---  
  
Hey! So, what you think? Good? Bad? Terrible? Worth writing more? Please tell me. I will post more if you want it.  
  
Thanx,  
  
Gillian 


	2. Chapter Two

Hey guys! In the last chapter I unfortunately didn't realise something was wrong with the spell check until I had it up. So if you found any spelling or grammar mistakes, sorry. Anyway, thanks for the reviews, this is for you guys!  
  
It is set four years prior to the last chapter. The next chapter will go back to being in the future.  
  
Read and (hopefully) Enjoy!  
  
Part Two -  
  
He was watching her as she talked to a patient. He often did. His eyes would glance round until they found her, then they would stay there. Sometimes he found himself caught up in her for up to ten minutes; sometimes it was only a few seconds. It didn't matter how long it lasted; all he knew was that he was falling for her. John Carter was falling in love with a woman who had no clue about her beauty. She didn't know what a wonderful person she was. All she thought she was is a failure. A disappointment to her family and friends. How wrong she was.  
  
They had slept together. They had finally spent the night with each other. It had been the best night of his life. The lockdown had opened his eyes up to how easily he could lose her. Tomorrow may never come. Now though, he didn't care. If he died tomorrow, he would die a happy man.  
  
Abby Lockhart loved him and he loved her. What more could he ask for? He needed to speak to her. He needed to make sure that she was okay. So far, he had approached her five times trying to talk but she had always been busy with a patient. Now, as he saw her walk toward the Admin. Desk, this is when he would talk to her.  
  
He walked toward her. His hand ran through the short brown hair that lay on his head as he considered what he was going to say. He would get her in the lounge. Then they could talk without anyone trying to eavesdrop.  
  
As he reached her she turned to face him. She put a smile on her face and greeted him in her usual fashion. "Hey." Her eyes, so brown and perfect, stared straight into his own. How easy it would be to just pick her up, throw her on the desk and make love to her right here, right now.  
  
"Hey, stranger," He replied. She acted just the way he thought she would. Her right hand came up to her face and she opened her mouth.  
  
"Yeah, Carter I'm sorry about that. I've been so busy today. Every time I thought of finding you and going to Docs someone would come with a patient. Sorry." He knew she was probably lying. Abby had been avoiding him for two days and she thought no one had noticed. He let her off with it though. Right now, John didn't want to argue, he wanted to talk to her about them.  
  
"It's okay. I understand. I was just about to go over to Docs. Wanna come?" For a minute, he can see her panicking. Maybe she doesn't them to get together. Maybe all she wants is for him to leave her alone. He pushes those thoughts from his mind. Until she heard him say she didn't want him, John Carter still had hope.  
  
Her mouth opened as she got ready to answer. "Yeah I'd love." Her voice was cut off by Kerry Weaver's yell at them.  
  
"Carter, Abby. We need you in Trauma One." Damn it, he thought to himself. He looked at Abby and saw the same disappointment reflected in her eyes.  
  
"I guess our luck goes on." They both made their way toward Trauma One. Peering through the glass of the door, John saw Luka Kovac already working on the man. It didn't look bad.  
  
"Why's he in here?" Abby questioned the Croatian doctor. He looked up and saw her. "It looks all he needs his hand stitched up." John was also wondering that. They were both given a very good reason.  
  
"He's a rapist who was just caught by he police. He cut his hand while he was trying to escape." The man lying on the gurney laughed. He was covered in dust and his clothes were ripped. He was strapped to the bed using hard restraints. No one had given him haldol.  
  
"Well, Abby can take care of his hand. It probably won't even need stitches. Just a good clean. Pratt," John turned to the young man who was standing in the corner of the room. "You can watch Abby, right?" There wasn't even much point in making it a question. It wasn't. It was an order. Luka looked up as Pratt nodded his agreement.  
  
"I'll stay too. Just until security gets down here." At the incredulous look John gives him he continues. "They are very short staffed at the moment. Something to do with more being needed in other hospitals." Although Carter isn't happy about it, he accepts and goes out of the room.  
  
The next half-hour is quite peaceful in the ER. John spends most of it in the lounge talking to Susan. Susan knows about him and Abby. And she is very happy. John is in the middle of explaining about what happened during the lockdown when Chuny rushes into the room.  
  
"Dr. Carter, Dr. Lewis, we need you out here right now." There is something in her voice that worries John. Plus she keep's sending him these weird looks. The first thought to register is, Abby. Something's happened to her.  
  
They all rush out to the Admin. Desk. Carter looks around. Everyone looks so worried. He walks up to Kerry. "What's going on?" He can see the security guards rushing about but doesn't want to jump to any conclusions. Kerry turns to him.  
  
"John, the rapist that was brought in managed to get out of his restraints." John breathed in a very shaky breath. "We don't know how long they've been gone. Security just arrived." He could hear the bitterness in her voice as she spoke the last sentence.  
  
"Who's he taken? Abby, Pratt and Luka were all in there." Kerry's eye's fill with tears. For a minute, John truly thinks she is going to cry. Her head bows as he looks at her.  
  
"John, he's got Abby and Pratt. We don't know were they've gone. We do know they're in the hospital though. He left a note saying that if we didn't find them by six o'clock tonight, Pratt would die." John looked down at the watch strapped to his wrist. It was five o'clock. That meant they had one hour to find this guy.  
  
"What about Abby? Did he mention want he would do to her?" Although John already knew the answer, he wanted to hear someone say it. He didn't want to believe that anything bad could happen to Abby, ever. Kerry turned to him with a very defeated look.  
  
"He didn't mention her. The rapist, Mister Hicham Mike, targets women in between 30 and 35. Abby would fit that age description. I am truly sorry to say it but it is a possibility that he could rape her." She sounded so sad when she said it, sympathy laced into her normally hard, cold voice.  
  
John was angry. This guy should never have even been brought to the ER. Security arrived way too late. Where were the police? Who could he punch? Before any of these thoughts could materialise, John suddenly realised one name had been missing from their conversation. "How did he get free? What happened to Luka?" Kerry would not make eye contact with him. Not a good sign.  
  
"Luka got a serious knock to his head." She paused for a while, looking up as two security men made their way passed the two doctors. "He was, he died before anyone even arrived on the scene." As Kerry had spoken, her eyes filled with tears. John couldn't believe what he was hearing. Tears laced his chocolate brown eyes as he thought about how that could have happened. "He had come out the room to tell me what was going on. I told him that they should leave Abby to it. He, of course, refused. I told him that the restraints would stop any struggles and that we couldn't afford to have three people working on one cut hand." Her head was down and John was positive he could see tears. "He just stormed out. If I had followed him, none of this would be happening."  
  
In a rare show of friendship, john wrapped his arms around Kerry and brought her into his chest. Her shoulders moved up and down slowly, trying to calm the salty drops coming from her eyes. John knew that they were being stared at, but personally, he didn't care. He was too busy trying to quell the horrid tightness he felt in his chest. He knew he could handle Luka dying, he could also handle Kerry crying but what he could not handle was Abby not being there. With him.  
  
Kerry pulled away and, realising that they had wasted ten precious minutes, they both swiftly walked away. That's when the phone rang.  
  
Nobody moved toward it, all too afraid that it could be Mike. John moved toward it, keeping a cool exterior while inside his brain screamed at him to pick the phone up and demand to know where Abby was. Instead, he calmly picked the phone up and started the conversation.  
  
"Hello."  
  
"John." Someone whispered desperately on the other side. It sounded a lot like.  
  
"Abby? Abby where are you?"  
  
"Oh God. I can't. he might. oh god."  
  
"Abby, tell me where you are. I can help, he won't hurt you."  
  
There was silence for a moment and during that time John thought she might have been caught using the phone. He was, however, relieved to hear her voice on the other end.  
  
"He already has." It was only three words but it brought anger from John's heart that he had not felt for along time.  
  
"What happened? Where's Pratt?" There was quite a crowd gathering around the Admin. Desk to listen into the phone conversation.  
  
"I don't know. Mike took off with Pratt about ten minutes ago. I'm. I'm in the morgue, he locked the door. It's one of the side rooms." John knew she had purposely avoided answering his question about what had happened to her. This time he let her, as he knew that he could see her if they found out where she was. As soon as the word 'morgue' was out of Abby's mouth, John turned and told the police that were standing there.  
  
"The police are coming down. You're going to be okay. 'We're' going to be okay." He repeated the word that had become like a philosophy for him.  
  
"He tried to. I was so scared. He tied my hands up and tried to." It was breaking John's heart to hear Abby talk like that. He could hear the distress in her voice. He turned and caught Susan's eye.  
  
"Abby, what did he do?" Susan's eyes went wide. She should be glad she doesn't have to listen to Abby talk, John thought. He was having a hard time with his emotions. He was angry yet could not let that show in his voice. Not an easy thing to do.  
  
"He tried to." She paused and he could hear her take a deep breath. "Pratt stopped him and he got angry. He untied me and took Pratt with him, out the room. It's my fault." She was crying. John could hear it in her voice although she was trying to hide it.  
  
"Abby, it's not your fault. Pratt did what anyone in that situation would have done. You can't blame yourself." John turned away from Susan and toward the hand tapping him on his arm. A policeman stood there. John put his hand over the receiver as the policeman informed him that people were on their way down to Abby. "People are on their way Abby, okay? Just sit tight." There was nothing from the other end. "Abby?" John was starting to panic, "Abby?" Still nothing.  
  
John frantically looked around the room as he listened in to the receiver. That was when another voice greeted him.  
  
"Hello. Who is this?" Oh no, he thought. Mikes back. He must have caught Abby on the phone. That, John decided, was not a good thing.  
  
"This is Dr. Carter. I presume this is Hicham Mike?"  
  
"My, Dr. Carter, I can see why you're a doctor. I mean, you're so clever." There was a short burst of laughter on the other end of the phone. "I take it the nurse phoned you?" There was a new added anger to the voice.  
  
"Where is 'the nurse'?"  
  
"Ah, I believe that would be telling." John felt like screaming down the phone but, somehow, he managed to keep his voice steady. "She's here. Just a bit tied 'down' at the moment." Another little laugh came from the receiver. Something about this guy's voice bothered John. It had changed from that of a normal man, to that of a psychotic one in mere minutes.  
  
"Have you injured her?"  
  
"Not badly. Yet."  
  
"Where have you put the man you had? Is he injured?"  
  
"Maybe." This guy was playing games and John knew it. He was, however, also getting fed up with it.  
  
"You said we had until 6 o'clock. You said you wouldn't hurt him 'til then."  
  
"That's before he ruined my fun!" The man blared down the phone. He was shouting loud enough for most people around John to hear. "I wanted her and he stopped me. He deserved to be punished." There was a pause and when Mike next spoke, his voice was normal again. "I wouldn't have hurt the nurse. I always please my subjects." That was all it took to break John. He couldn't hold back the anger he felt toward the man any longer.  
  
"You sick son of a bitch! What have you done to them? Why won't you just let them go?" John could hear the man on the other end laughing. When John stopped, Mike stopped. Looking around, John realised that everyone around him had taken a step back. Everyone, that was, except Susan. She stood looking shocked.  
  
For a minute, there was silence from down the phone. Just as John was about to break the silence, a loud crash could be heard both from the receiver and from downstairs. The cavalry arrives, he thought. Finally.  
  
The receiver was slammed down as he ran toward the stairs, quickly followed by Susan and Gallant. To John, it seemed to take forever to get from the ER to the morgue. His legs didn't move fast enough, he concluded to himself.  
  
He well-muscled legs carried him to where the noise was being made. There were two rooms surrounded by police officers. John went toward the one on his left. As it turned out, it was the right room.  
  
Abby was sitting in a chair with a blue blanket wrapped around her shivering body. Slowly, John's aching legs carried him to her. She looked up at him. Her eyes, filled with tears, showed more emotion than he thought possible. All the fear he felt was reflected in her eyes, except, for her it was worse.  
  
She stood and John gathered her into his strong arms, giving the only comfort he could offer. Neither of them saw Susan enter the room nor did they see her leave.  
  
Thanks for reading this! I don't know what a morgue looks like as I, thankfully, have never been in one. Just like to clear something. In the last chapter I said that the ER lost two people. I meant Luke and Abby, even though Abby is alive. She will return in the next chapter! Yay! Although I don't know when I'll get time to write it as tomorrow I have to take my dog's to training classes with my Mum. Fun!  
  
Anyway, sit, stay and you may be rewarded (or punished depending on how you rate this story) with another chapter!  
  
Thanx, Gillian. 


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